Winter wonderland.

Once again, snow brought chaos to the British Isles. Everything ground to a halt and nothing worked. This seems to happen every year, but this time there was just cause, as for once we had proper snow. Still nothing compared to what they have in Scotland year in ,year out. My work was impossible at times due to everything being covered in several inches of snow. The snow clouds though had several silver linings for me. I had been waiting for decent snow for years so I could get out with the camera, and with a good 4x4 with proper tyres on, this was not going to be a problem.

 

The first snow we had here in Suffolk before christmas offered several opportunities for me. I had always wanted to get shots of deer in the snow and I was able to get one or two nice shots of Red Deer and of Muntjac too. I also got a couple of pleasing shots of a Fox one afternoon. The small birds really need looking after in a hard winter and we had all sorts coming to the feeders in the garden. It was however in my neighbours garden that I got some nice shots, as they had converted an old shed at the top of their garden into a hide and put a feed station up in front of the shruberry offering great views of Coal, Blue, Great and Long-Tailed Tits, along with Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Blackbird and the odd Great Spotted Woodpecker too. I did get nice shots of Blackbirds in my own garden as I had been putting Apples out which I had saved for them, and they had become quit tame and approachable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was in January that we got our heaviest snow though. During the afternoon and evening of the 7th, it really came down with more that night. So the next morning found me out after deer again. Fallow this time. I heard them before I saw them. I was creeping through the wood in the pre-dawn when I could hear the younger animals on a field outside the wood, bleating to their mothers. The snow was so fine and powdery, it was very quiet walking, and so it was no problem to get to the edge of the trees undetected. And what a sight greeted me. They had herded together in the snow and I twice counted over eighty in the herd, although it was impossible to count them accurately. As it got lighter and lighter, I was able to get some pictures, but I got my best shots of individuals when I came back through the wood later. The scenery was breathtaking too. It really was a winter wonderland with all the trees covered in snow.

 

 

 

 

The following morning I was out again before it was light, this time after Red Deer. I soon found a good group on mixed and fairly open woodland. They would have been very difficult to get to if it had not been for a deep gully which led towards them. Aftet a short twenty minute stalk, I was in a good position and then spent the next two hours sitting in the snow getting some lovely shots of them. They were all in good condition, but were feeding on what they could find, and it was very interesting to sit and watch them feeding on the Heather and the pine needles off the tips of the Scots Pines. Some of them at times were only twenty five metres away. This obviously meant I could not move a muscle, and when I had an opportunity to slip away unseen, I found it quite difficult as my right leg was completely dead! If anyone had seen me hobbling away, I think they would have thought I was straight out of a zombie film! I did however get away unseen and when I looked back, I could see that I had been surrounded by more than thirty deer on the gully above my head! It was very satisfying to see that they were all stiil just browsing or laying down having not had a clue that I was just feet away from them!

 

 

 

 

I decided to make the most of the day and see what else I could find in the woods. Later in the day I came across an area in the woods that was just alive with birds foraging for food. There were Redwings, Blackbirds, Robins, Chaffinch, Wren, Song Thrush, Blue, Great, Marsh, Coal and Long-Tailed Tits,Tree Creepers and a Great Spotted Woodpecker along with one or two Grey Squirrels. I just stood in one area for an hour or more, just watching and taking the odd shot now and then. Later on I bumped into a nice group of Red Deer stags with a group of hinds and got one or two decent photos. Then a short while later I managed to get a few pictures if odd Muntjac too. I had not see another person all day long and had had a good day just creeping about and seeing what I could find. It was the following day though that  I really struck gold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to go out a bit later in the morning to see if I could find the Red Deer stags again. As I got to the woods, I was driving alongside a boggy, marshy stream when I passed a Woodcock that was feeding on the edge of the stream. This was highly unusal as Woodcock are nocturnal feeders, roosting in cover by day and then flying out to feed at dusk. The day before though, I had seen several flying about all day long and putting them up in places that were damp where they had been forced out to feed because of the constant freezing temperatures. I carried on as planned to look for the stags. I found three of them but not any of the larger ones. I kept thinking about the Woodcock and then formed an idea to try to get some pictures of this most elusive bird.

I decided to leave the deer and go for a slow drive back alongside the stream, looking in all the boggy, damp areas for any Woodcock that may just be out feeding in the daylight. A slight thaw had began and I was hopeful that they may just take advantage of this, and I was also hopeful that they would not take too much notice of the truck and it would become a mobile hide. What I was to find though was beyond even my hopes and expectations. It wasn't long before I came across the first Woodcock. In fact there were a pair. One did fly off as I approached in the truck, but the other one stayed long enough for me to get some shots that I could only have dreamed of. A Woodcock totally in the open and in broad daylight!

 

 

I spent the next four or five hours alongside the stream, and it wasn't just Woodcock I was to photograph. I soon came across a Common Snipe that was probing around in the margins and took no notice of the truck at all. And that wasn't the end of what I saw. Water Rails! I must have seen at least twenty or more in the time I was sitting there. One time, there were four all within ten feet of each other! They too, took no notice of the truck and just kept coming out of the reed beds to feed in the margins. It was quite difficult to get pictures of all these things though as it was quite a dull day and they were moving about a lot, as well as being dark objects against the bright white snow. I just however kept taking shots, checking them, and then altering the camera to try to get the best I could. I was very pleased with the end results. And to cap it all I got another good series of shots of a Woodcock, first at rest by a tree and then probing and feeding!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Observation had been a key to getting all the pictures I had got. But with the Woodcock, Water Rails and Snipe, I had had a lot of luck too. I was lucky that I had been out and in the right area at the time. I had been lucky that a thaw had set in to create the feedind conditions. And the harshness of the past few weeks had also played a major part, forcing things to change their normal habits. It did amaze me though how the wildlife had coped. Sure there would have been deaths due to the cold. However there were a lot of survivors too, that like the Woodcock, took advantage of certain situations. When I was taking the pictures of the Woodcock, I was also taking note of what condition they seemed to be in, and I did not see one under weight bird.

 

 

The small birds in the gardens though do need our help for them to take advantage. They need feeding regulary and water too. The things I were concerned about though were things like the Barn Owls and Kestrels. With such a prolonged cold spell, I was not optomistic to see these about when it thawed. But wildlife can always suprise you, and a few days later the snow had all but gone, and as if nothing had happened, Kestrels were back in the same old spots, and the Barn Owls were hunting the same fields again. I dont know how they do it. It was good to see them again after everything had been under a blanket of snow, in a winter wonderland.